James: Getting Away With It review – hippies, hardnuts and dreamers unite

The documentary "James: Getting Away With It," subtitled "Sects, Trance and Rock’n’Roll," offers a charming, humorous, and occasionally rousing portrait of the seminal Manchester indie group James, meticulously detailing their numerous ups, downs, and near misses. While acknowledging its nature as an auto-hagiography, with many interviewees having been part of the band at various junctures, the film effectively chronicles their distinctive trajectory. The narrative begins with the formative encounter between Tim Booth, the band's soon-to-be singer, who received a boarding school education, and a group of working-class musicians. This meeting, described as a "cute" encounter, occurred after the latter individuals allegedly infiltrated the University of Manchester's student union bar and pilfered Booth's beverages. This incident set the stage for a band that their manager characterized as having "took all the wrong turns and made every mistake possible." Their unconventional approach was evident early on when they rejected an offer from the influential independent record label Factory Records to release their debut album. The reason for this refusal was their aversion to having a product number assigned to their work, a testament to their early desire for artistic autonomy. Further underscoring their unique path, James also declined a significant opportunity to support The Smiths on their United States tour. This decision was driven by the fact that several band members had become involved with an esoteric meditation cult, and the proposed tour schedule would have inevitably clashed with the bassist's pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. By the time James achieved their first significant wave of commercial success, which coincided with the vibrant and distinctive "baggy" scene of the early 1990s in Manchester, the band had already navigated a career filled with as many challenges and setbacks as most bands experience in a lifetime. The "baggy" era was characterized by a particular fashion sense, including the ubiquitous large daisy petal T-shirts, and the release of anthemic songs. One such song, "Sit Down," became a defining moment for the band, famously coming close to reaching the coveted No. 1 spot on the UK charts, ultimately being narrowly kept from the top position by Chesney Hawkes' "The One and Only." The documentary, therefore, presents a compelling narrative that unites seemingly disparate elements – the "hippies," the "hardnuts," and the "dreamers" – within the context of James's singular journey through the music industry, providing a good-natured and often inspiring account of their unconventional rise.